Empty Orchard
|
|
I rarely do fiction, but after the whole DaVinci Code experience, I figured this would be worthwhile. the girlfriend and I listened to the audiobook - 15 CDs - mostly while up in the mountains of western North Carolina (late 2008). This one was a similar mythological/religious code and history based thriller, and it definitely did thrill. Some of the settings, and feats accomplished by the protagonist, Robert Langdon, certainly extend far beyond what is reasonable or believable - and luckily, the movie was slightly modified accordingly. But overall great, thrilling fiction - if there's no non-fiction around. :) Brown definitely knows his history and ann that, but I wish the formula could be modified - Langdon + hot specialist chick take down "massive conspiracy" that turns out to be just two guys, one of whom is an unstoppable assassin, and the other being a priest. C'mon, man!
An interesting look into many factors leading into 2011 and 2012 - potential, imagined, scientific and otherwise - and a compilation of jabs in different directions, all leading to the possibility of tragedy for humanity in December, 2012. Some information is interesting - sunspots and solar activity, the realm of the galaxy we are moving into, and Mayan beliefs and penchant for being correct in their forcasts thus far. But the book is littered with religious leanings and other non-pertinent information and outlooks. Some interesting findings, but some other failures; looks like this was a paycheck capitalising on human fear.
Taking the name of the Particia Cornwell novel that became a bestseller may seem like capitalizing on another's success - but in this case, it's the opposite. Bill Bass is the original forensic pathologist who developed the Body Farm. In this collection of factual stories and history (quite the cure for Cornwelll's corny fiction), Bass narrates the history of forensics, gives realistic weight to the flighty TV-inspired idea of forensics carried out by Bones, CSI, NCIS, etc, and gives first-hand accounts of some very interesting cases he has worked on.
As a side note, Bass has an awesome, deep Southern voice, perfect for an audiobook. Makes you feel like he's the grandfather you never had, unless your grandfather was a doctor from Tennessee.
This audiobook set includes 3 titles by Bryson, Notes from a Small Island, Neither Here Nor There, and I'm a Stranger Here Myself. Notes and Stranger are passably interesting, but the middle title was tedious as all hell to get through. He takes a train here, takes a train there, etc etc. Journal entries and route notes, most of them so banal and boring that I couldn't wait to get through the next audio CD. This audiobook was probably the most work-like of any that I've listened to.
On the bright side, the parts that have actual content are witty and self-effacing, and you can imagine Bryson trekking around these places as a younger lad. Though it is lacking in story, and the anecdotes that do exist are sparse, portions of these books were interesting and entertaining.
This collection of stories and intellectual exercises was recommended personally to my sister and I, and a few thousand other folks, by David Sedaris when we saw him speak here in Charlotte. Saunders has a very witty tone, not overly sarcastic, with a dash of real-world self-deprecating experience that makes this entire read pleasant. The final portion is something of a review/cliff notes/essay on Huck Finn, why the ending was the way it was, and an overall commentary on the book, which brought me back to my college days as an English major. But the opening chapter, and some of the other stories - Dubai, the little Buddha - are excellent.
Pearl, who has worked on producing some Dante works, takes a fictional group of Massachusetts poets and writers, and forces them into this odd Dante-inspired murder mystery. At the time I was pissed about reading fiction - I was looking for non-fiction only, and was misled by all the names of Longfellow, Wordsworth, etc. The Dante murders were interesting, but the whole murder mystery part was stillborn and impractical. Using historical figures in a fictional work is something my mind specifically can't bend around, so this wasn't going to work at all for me.
The first audiobook my girlfriend let me borrow in mid-2006, this book will always hold a specal place in my heart. I remember just laboring to get into it, turning around to go towards Orlando and hearing the author drone on and on about Langdon's swimming laps and his impressive 40's physique. But soon it had grabbed my interest, and the mix of history, mystery, an religious obfuscations had me going. As I've stated, I don't much dig fiction, but this one had a nice combination of history and thrills to make it a good read. Definitely recommended, although the movie did it justice.
Currently in my travel bag - haven't gotten that far. Next non-JetBlue flight (where I actually get to read), or long layover, I should get througha few chapters. Brian Greene is one of the guys from The Universe on the History channel - very bright guy, good skill at explaining complex issues.
A nerdy economist's dream book, but with enough interesting, mind-bending content to keep the layman entertained and amused (and a little befuddled). This book took new approaches to trends in everything from baby names to crime. A real thought-provoking, interesting read, and scientifically done to boot.
This book details the life of jazz/fusion bass legend Jaco Pastorius. In finding that many of my influences were in turn influenced by Pastorius and others like James Jamerson, I began collecting some books and information on the tragic bassists. My guitarist, Ron, had this book lying about. Though it is sad and tragic, it is a very interesting read, of how a musical genius came to stardom, and was undone by pressure, drugs, alcohol, and mental instability.
The Langdon template is here, with an olive-skinned hot chick as co-lead, a nefarious villian with limitless resources and intimate knowledge of symbology, and the constant explain-as-you-run-through-catacombs narration. And it all starts with - swimming laps, call (and fax! who uses a fax anymore?!), and a private jet flight to a destination, where dastardly things will erupt over 1, possibly 2 days. Formulaic, but at 6 CDs, much shorter than the others.
This book is another fun romp of adventure mixed with a bit of history/science, again with great leaps taken and great license taken with actual fact - but, enough to make you think about things in a slightly new light. Lost Symbol is by far the most forgettable of the Robert Langdon trilogy, and the first where Langdon is really just a guy running around, instead of a James Bond wannabe taking on murderers and banging the female lead. What seems like a huge villain presence unravels quickly, and when you figure things out you begin to be disappointed by the smallness of scope. Still, a slight departure for Brown, which is great.
Decent fluff read, enough to please the ears of the standard listener.
I sat through a ton of audio CDs for this hodge-podge of stories, news clippings, and meandering adventures of 30-some-odd part-time characters. Talking animals get adopted, killed, and lost, drugs get thrown around outside of labs, leading to death, and all kinds of law and corporate takeover issues happen. Just when a character has taken enough screen-timeup that you thinkt hey are important, they drop off the face of the earth or are killed off. The leading story, when it finally develops, is a let down. All together, a bunch of ideas and thought thrown together in a stew that ends up wandering without a flavor.
Fantastic premise, a workplace survival guide to working with, for, and around complete and utter assholes, of varying types. Sutton goes into great, witty detail of the types of assholes and their behavior, companies that avoid hiring them altogether, with insights and anecdotes from the business world - both his experience, and rumors and retellings of employees from law firms to Apple.
However, the book never seems to reach a point, of how to deal with them, survive them, remove them entirely. The end gives a quick 10-point summary, but it feels rushed and hollow. Definitely a fun read - similar to 'On Bullshit', I'd imagine - but not as much in the instructional/survival piece as I would have thought.
Final note- the author reads this one himself, which detracts slightly, as he is a decent reader, but some vocal peculiarities arise. Leave it to a professional for the best product! Although this book is more academic in nature, so it's more acceptable here.
This audiobook was in the bargain bin, and I bought it for my girlfriend, with her being a bit older than me and needing some guidance in the retirement/financial planning department. There's a reason why it was in the bargain bin for under $8.
Eisenberg is a wel-travelled professional, magazine editor, internet business consultant, and elite rich guy for much of the last 30 years. He has some interesting points of view, but most of them are from a very wealthy standpoint. He talks about people socking away millions...not really much the average, middle class American can use. He creates a pseudo-family and goes through their individual plights and outlooks, an interesting example, but aside from strangling a rough formula out of him, me fails to provide much in the way of actual, usable core content. When he does, you feel like you're getting lessons from a stuck up socialite on another planet regarding wealth - which, of course, you are.
A great read about everything gas-related; how it is distributed in the US, how it was marketed in the 50's, what life is like on an oil rig in Texas, what the US government has done for oil in Venezuela and Iran in the past, and what companies like Exxon Mobil are doing to ravage new petro-states like Chad. Did you know that US cruisers attacked oil platforms in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war in 1988, and that this was ruled as a war crime?
Many conservative folks today shudder at the thought of actually having open relations with Iran, when it was our poor policies in the 60's, 70's, and 80's that led to Iran feeling as if they need to be dangerous in order to keep us at bay. Now, countries like China get to reap the oil exports of the 2nd largest oil country in the world, and the US continues almost completely ineffective sanctions.
Coming Soon
This cold, hard, painful read was well worth the effort. Much of it is taken up in mundane tasks - he lit the fire, he gathered wood, etc - and there are parts that suddenly drift up in flowery, observationaly 4th-person rambling prose, that do not fit the rest of the book. Overall, however, the story is worth the read, as a father tries to keep himself and his son alive in a post-apocalyptic future, as everything from weather to starvation to cannibals and murderers crosses their path. A very chilling look at humanity, tempered with the warmth of love and care. McCarthy pulls no punches, and delivers only the cold, telling truth.
This was my first entry into this fictional CSI-esque Scarpetta world. My girlfriend had read several of these novels, and so was much more familiar with the characters and backstory than I was. For me, digging into this book was like listening to a bad soap opera; where I had expected interesting forensic analysis and cunning detectivework, instead I got long glances into each others' eyes, teammates that had raped one another, and lesbian romances that had stopped or started or were now restarting. Funny how lesbians in novels are always hot, when in real life, it's about 10%.
Anyway, this book mindlessly wanders around a fictional New York, taking random plotlines of midget love, cheating, spying, paranoia, and animal cruelty into some bad soap opera stew. In the end, the 'villian' is someone you suspected - really the only one it could be, an oddball side character with no motivation and no ability to do all the incredible things he was doing throughout the novel. One of those books that is wrapped up, and no one asks questions that they should have. How did this guy have 3 jobs? How was he everywhere doing everything? Why did he do any of what he did?
One really annoying part of the soap opera-ness is that the main characters have continuing dialogue, and seem to understand each other - which makes even less sense, because you don't understand them. I've been reading - I should know what the characters know. Instead, they are all smiling and nodding knowingly while gazing into each others' cheating, raping eyes, leaving any reader with brain matter fuming at the poor writing.
This is one reason I stick to non-fiction - fiction bothers me. Dan Brown I can deal with, he is knowledgeable and creates some great woven plots and intrigue. Cornwell uses what is at times questionable grammar. This novel is not a high-level thriller, it's fodder for the masses. Avoid this line of novellas. This includes Scarpetta, The Scarpetta Factor, Scarpetta Unleashed, Scarpetta At High Noon, and Scarpetta Scarpetta Scarpetta, Quando Quando Quando.
Reading now via audiobook - covers some topics nicely, quickly, not too in-depth - enough to remind you of the grandness of the universe, the beauty of life, and how frustrating Chemistry was - molar mass, balancing equations, etc. Bryson taps on some lesser-known figures, and adds his oddly british observational humor to each tidbit of history, wrapping things together nicely.
A funny and witty read into all sides of arguing - rhetoric, debate, appealing to different parts of your audience, etc. Great references to everything imaginable, from great minds of the Greeks, to presidents, to pop culture icons like Homer Simpson. Heinrichs keeps it all funny, even while getting real deep into terminology and descriptions.
Currently on Bedside - read the first few chapters
I am kind of amazed Josh Hartnett took this role; from heart-throb leading man to a dirty, gritty vampire horror flick? Nonetheless, this movie is about perfect for a gorey vampire flick. Scarey, intense, horrific...perfect. Vampires have rarely been done better.
Why did Pacino sign up to produce this trash? The supporting cast of this inept thriller/mystery overacts to help make the plot more of a 'twist', but it just ends up making the entire premise weak. Why does everyone around him act so weird? "Sorry, Al, I have to be a psycho today, because it helps keep everyone guessing! I might be your psycho stalker, or I could just be acting weird as all hell for no good reason!
Probably the worst Pacino vehicle ever. Wow.
This sequel amends some prepostorous parts of the book, and is definitely good, watchable fare. Dan Brown's formula is alive - two white guys are at the bottom of what appeared to be a massive conspiracy or plot. But the anti-matter is done very well, if simplistic.
I don't believe I've ever donned 3D glasses before. Aside from the third-wheel guy in Back to the Future who wore the blue-red 50's-era glasses, all I knew of 3D was failed attempts to commercialize it in movies - Jaws 3D, and some recent, bad horror movies. So it was with skepticism that I lowered the flat specs onto my eyes.
If you are going to see this movie in the theater, seeing it in 3D can only improve the experience. The movie's strength is in these constant, lush visuals that fill the world of Pandora - visuals that took so much effort, imagination, and artistic talent that taking it all in in 3 hours leaves you feeling like life - your world - is the most drab existence possible. This film succeeds in that most important aspect, in creating a fantastical, fictional world, complete with creatures and plants and atmosphere and ecosystem and biology. You can feel it, understand it, and see it around you. In that effort alone, this film is a resounding success.
Secondly comes the plot. Many point out a reimagining of Dances with Wolves, which this most surely is, although with unimaginably more sound and fury. The plot moves along slowly, but satisfyingly so- an hour in, you are reflecting at how long it took the main character to win over his fellow teammates' trust - and that's the humans he came with. Every piece of it feels hard fought, and the 2 1/2 hour + movie never drags, being a visual feast.
Next part of it, for me, is the problem of watching so much cartoonish content. I get this problem when looking at Transformers 2, or the redux of the Star Wars original series (or any of the new trilogy). So much of the content is blatantly cartoonish in origin, it immediately kills the realism. When viewing the re-release of Star Wars, you can hardly concentrate without a CGI dinosaur walking into frame with ridiculous frequency. This movie, however, doesn't fall prey to this - and mainly, because like 300 and Sin City, it uses the graphical enhancements as the background, instead of the foreground. Thus you are never torn between reality and CGI; the characters are animated, but seamlessly, so as to avoid visual conflict.
Finally, there is the message. Humans are there to gather resources, move the indigenous folks, claim things for themselves and their own needs. A scene that has been repeated historically countless times - wiping out Native Americans, enslaving Africans, and finally pillaging the Earth of its natural resources. These aren't evil people - just like we, today, aren't evil - just people occupied with their own lives, their survival, their job, well ahead of anything else...like we are today. But their choices certainly look evil from the other side of the conflict, as our choices and actions must certainly look to any onlookers, or if this planet had a collective sentience. It is odd to have a theater cheer as aliens kill humans - and odder still that many of these cheering audience members will drive home in their SUVs, question climate change, and fight for offshore drilling. But, enough of that.
Avatar succeeds as a visual masterpiece. James Cameron has made good on any promise this movie had. It opened the door for a reimagining of the theater experience, and I can say for certain that it will be a long time before that feeling is matched in the theater, for me. I've seen movies in IMax and high-def, and I watched as Jurassic Park took new steps forward into CGI and making the impossible look realistic. This is definitely a paradigm shift for the movie business, a complete moviegoing bonanza, and an experience you will not forget. Very rarely in film history has dramatic innovation been matched with tremendous imagination, and told with a relatively small, relatively small-name cast. This movie is along the lines of Jurassic Park and Star Wars - able to capture the imagination, take you on a great ride, and potentially change the theater experience for the next decade or more.
A low-IQ sci-fi futuristic adventure romp. Expect a rambling storyline, minor characters that die just when expected, and ridiculous romantic undertones. Vin Diesel is his normal self.
Long, slow-moving, but pretty and picturesque in every frame. Casey Affleck has never really been likeable - something about his voice puts me off - but this whole film has no heroes, and is rather dark. Exacerbating that is the constant dreary background, and agonizingly slow pace - also the music, the same 3 or 4 repetitive pieces coming in at odd times, and the constant voiceover accompanyment, using words like 'moating and dungeoning' to describe a characters behavior. Overall, the directing and camerawork is amazing; the plot, interesting and historically accurate, but mind-numbingly slow. Some tension and drama, and definitely good acting.
Long and good - and I was forced to see this in Imax, so everything was huge and tough to see. The Joker...incredible. Just incredible. This should defintely take home some best actor hardware for Heath (RIP). Aaron Eckhart was okay. Maggie Gyllenhaal, I could do without. I didn't love Katie Holmes (crazy!), but what the heck?? She turned down reprising her role in the biggest blockbuster, to do...a cinematic masterpiece called Mad Money. And no, not even the Jim Kramer version. Just another bad, bad choice for Katie.
I admit I may be biased, being that John Keats is my favorite poet. This true adaptation of Keats and his love affair with Fanny Brawne, before he died of TB at 25, was spot on and very fulfilling for me. In a cinema world of explosions and effects, sweet, terrific films like this can get lost, which is so sad.
Very well-acted movie, terrific period costumes and sets. Abbie Cornish was very plain looking, which made it all the more believable rather than normal Megan Fox-ish hollywood fodder. Great performances, great ode to my favorite poet. Truly great performance by the supporting actor Paul Schneider - just perfect. The film is slow, pretty, almost chick-click, but any poetry fan will certainly enjoy the experience.
Ah, the Coen brothers. Goofy characters, oddball plotline, and rampant violence. This is, certainly, all three. Moments that stand out are Clooney on a park bench, the opening plastic surgery scene, and Malkovitch exercising with Gilad from FitTV (whose program is excellent, by the way). Pitt's awesome character deserved more, with the bad hair and incredibly stupid affect.
The movie was watchable, but overall had no lasting impact, nothing I really took from it because it just wandered so aimlessly. When things are 'wrapped up' at the end you just feel this emptyness, of why did I watch that for the last two hours. A bit entertaining, but nothing great here.
Hanks does the southern democrat well in this near-to-truth story of aiding the Afgans in the 80's. Philip Seymour Hoffman is hilarious in his exchanges as well. It really urges you to research some of the goings-on of the era - and gives you a frightening look into how things get done in politics. Also, the backstory of how Afganistan became a country of trained, uneducated, underemployed fighters pre-9/11 is quite sobering.
Another entry in the Tim Burton-esque stop-motion animation catalogue, Coraline is a very interesting, very creepy fantasy tale - Alice in Wonderland meets Nightmare before Christmas. As always, a fun ride for the whole family, or for adults - definitely watchable and entertaining.
Good movie - Carrell at his best. Great supporting cast, interesting and completely atypical plot, yet very ordinary.
Another remake, this one at least blends some interesting sci-fi things into it. But the mish-mash of storylines - the family coming together, Keanu being his non-acting self, and humanity being destroyed, you nkow, for some reason - just leaves this one without the atomic-age effect that the original had.
Fantastically done - great action, really lifted you up with it - and it's all true, making that much more amazing. Definitely one of the best of the year (2008).
Combine what you know of this movie - aliens being confined to a certain district in Africa - with the ofttimes annoying camerawork seen in the movie Cloverfield. District 9 takes the aliens-visiting-Earth in a whole different direction - the aliens are strong, dangerous, but confined to concentration camps, and become the province of a multi-national corporation bent on using them. Parts of the plot are basic formula - switching sides, seeing the side of the beings once oppressed, etc - but other gaps fail horribly - the corporation can't find the guy, can't stop him or his one ally from breaking in, and none of the other aliens ever managed to use the technology like this guy does in about 12 hours.
Barring all that, the concept alone is so intriguing and well done, that it deserves decently high marks. The use of interesting technology, very reminiscient of Half-Life 2, puts a new spin on gunfights. The movie is left very open-ended, perhaps to make room for a sequel - but overall leaves you feeling complete, and that you just witnessed a very interesting, very different story. Also a plus - no 'good' guys, no vanilla good/bad here. Very thought-provoking and interesting film.
Fresh off the Jurassic Park wave, Sam Neill delivers a solid performance in this sci-fi space epic. Psychologically gripping, scary and gruesome, this film does its job of freezing you with fear. Definitely an overlooked space gem.
Probably the best of the series - Vin Deisel can really make the most of this part. Seeing the original cast reunited, instead of poor spin-offs, was good. Actually entertaining, watchable, kind of satisfying.
I loved this movie. The three-piece storytelling, the odd wonders of figuring out if they are all real and the same people, the visual effects... and figuring it all out at the end. If you get this movie, no matter what else you do in life, you cannot be all bad.
Not too bad. Maxwell Smart was never supposed to be that effective, which this movie mostly captures. Some tag lines ("missed it by that much" aren't anywhere near as funny anymore. But Carell does his best, and Hathway is amazingly cute, in her rodent-featured-yet-amazingly-beautiful way.
There is only one way this film is any good to you, and that's if you just came out of Transformers 2. They tried to squeeze in some decent character backstories, but it ended up looking like a sappy teenage program from the WB. This homicidal terrorist used to date this brain-dead soldier boy, and they both know the kid who ends up being Cobra Commander...just silly.
Hundreds of millions is special effects, all just a waste. The action parts are barely entertaining. The dialogue...oh my god, it was walk-out bad. Channing Tatum, or Stocker Channing, or Stocker Channing Tatum, whatever the guy's name is, is useless - depth-less. This guy makes Chris Pine look like Brando. And Marlon Wayans - really? First Dungeons and Dragons, now this? It's like the execs say hey, we're making a movie targeting nerds in their 20's...let's get a safe black presence. How about a Wayans! But you know, nothing too controversial. I've never yearned for David Alan Grier or good old Keenan or Damon so much.
That wasn't even the SECOND WORST casting choice. Zartan, instead of an Aussie, is the Mummy guy, totally overused after 24. The WORST, however, was the president. Longtime Terry Gilliam casting favorite Jonathan Pryce, a WELSH actor, portrays the US president. I mean...this has to be braind-dead, right? Did Terry Schiavo work on this casting job?
The end is the kicker. Bad Guy #2 instantly has a plot to take over everything, and was just waiting to enact it. And it gets him...nowhere. And to boot, the massive underground/underwater comlpex that somehow no one saw, is crushed by falling ice. Ice...falls through the water...hits the underwater fortress. If that doesn't make sense to you, congratulations, you are smarter than the writers for this flick.
Most depressing thought ever: they are already talking sequel. Why? Why why why why why.
To capitalize on the childrens/fantasy genre, which exploded with Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and Harry Potter, somebody released this crap. This movie is so bad - it moves all around, people join up and help the protagonist for little or no reason, a small girl can fool everyone, everywhere...it just sucked to high heaven. I don't even love the Narnia/Harry Potter stuff, but I'd watch that 10 times before watching this crap.
The different take on the hero movie is worth a watch, and Will Smith does it well. But the plot twist brings it to a screeching halt, and suddenly the movie is a whole lot less cool. Still interesting and kind of fun, though.
I am not at all a comedy guy. I go to maybe one comedy in the theater a year, if that. Most aren't funny (Will Ferrel, Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, and even Adam Sandler don't do it for me anymore), and just aren't worth the theater price - most aren't even worth the time. See Pineapple Express, below. But this movie was fantastic. Funny. Laughing so hard, my stomach hurt at the end - that's good stuff. You can't watch this and not laugh - some of it is ridiculous, and some is physical, but no matter what your humor is, this movie has it. Good for Ed Helms to be in a leading role.
I'm a Hellboy fan, I'll admit it. The X-men series went real bad real fast with X3, so I'll take anything. This series is different and interesting enough to warrant a good watch - interesting anti-hero, funny team idea, and plotlines that are fantastic enough to keep you entertained. Manages to be realistic, for a fantasy.
Watchable (for a chick flick), realistic, and kind of entertaining. Decent dissection of relationships, reasonings, human failings. Ben Affleck, getting not much screen time = just right.
Edward norton is good as Bruce Banner, and the plot is decent enough. It outpaces the earlier Hulk monstrosity and is watchable; also, seeing the Marvel universe come together is good for an old comic-book fan. However, the huge, computerized, 15-foot tall hulk just gets a little old for me.
This $400 million mistake puts Harrison Ford back in the hat and whip. It is not a welcome return. Here is a rundown of the biggest mistakes in this film:
In a word: unfulfilling.
In a run-on sentence: Long, drawn out conversations and slowed sequences, punctuated by brutal and sometimes indiscriminate periods of intense, bloody violence.
Excellent work by the actor playing main baddie Hans Landa. The rest of the movie - god, I'm so sick of Tarantino chapter-ing off his flick. I wanted to see Brad Pitt and his guys kill nazis, run them down on the street in bloody messes. But that all happens off-camera, which was I guess part of the trailer creation. Some of the sequences I remember seeing on trailers weren't even in the flick. It was good, definitely interesting, watchable, funny at times. Just...left this unsatiated feeling.
Just okay - pretty good shootout/action scene in the museum, but other than that, this is too unrealistic and ridiculous of a plot. Ending was ridiculous as well - you have someone cornered on a roof, alone in a city, and someone else shoots him. Why are these people so all-powerful in normal life, but so easy to isolate and chase down?
Robert Downey Jr. as a super-hero? Excellent. This movie was phenominal in every way - up until the last 'boss' fight. That got a little silly. Still, it's a comic book movie! And one of the most entertaining ever. Congrats to Marvel on kicking off their franchise with this massive success.
I went into this thinking I wouldn't like it, yet another Nicholas Cage failure...but it grew on me a bit. Imagery helped, and the fantastic continuous shot of the plane crash. The subway crash, too - it's a small scope story that throws in huge, almost mismatched action CGI sequences, and then suddenly becomes too huge altogether. They had the (balls) to go all the way with the plot, instead of a sappy predictable outcome...so bonus points for that.
Another funny Clooney vehicle, with great witty dialogue between the cast members. I'm no big football guy, but having Clooney back in the 1920's, a-la O Brother Where Art Thou? is always good. Krasinski is okay in his first movie role.
I found this movie to be okay. Cruise and Redford were good in their roles, and the overall feeling of the movie was good - political undertones, political activism instead of the apathy all of us working class, educated white folk get to have. The movie takes potshots at the administration and handling of both wars, without going directly at them. The Vietnam references are odd, and some things seem forced, but not bad overall. Dialogue is good.
Hilarious, hilarious, hilarious. The failure of a self-help guru, the gay collegiate uncle, the fat dancing daughter, the mute Kafka-reading introvert, and the brilliant druggie, porn-loving grandfather. Any movie that makes my family feel more normal, and makes me laugh at the same time, works for me.
Arrrgh! Why are video game movies so bad, so often?? I didn't like Wahlberg (the underwear model/rapper) portraying the over-the top cop from the first rumblings I heard of it, but for some reason I still had high hopes - the visual effects showing the drug hallucenations, etc. But it just fell flat. Bad script.
Fantastic performances, and a truly sad story, yield insight into the gay rights movement just 20-30 years ago. From right-wing Palin-esque idiots, to insecure public figures that become murderous, the whole film is a great vehicle for Sean Penn. He outdoes himself in this worthwhile ode to the San Fran activist.
I know one of my favorite actresses, Rachel Weisz, skipped out on this sequel, and now I know why. The goofiness of the overall story - something of a Mummy mixed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer - looks like a terrible script that couldn't be saved. CGI is over-used, you don't feel drawn in, and the story doesn't have the intensity or danger of the first two. I thought this was worse without Weisz, but it may have been doomed anyway; she made a wise choice here.
How many times can Paul W. S. Anderson make the same film? People (usually scientists) become zombies; people try to escape/fight/survive; most die, a few make it. Doom, Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3 - you'd think it would wear off. Pandorum tries to be something greater, with intensity more like Alien or Event Horizon - and while not necessarily reaching that peak, it certainly does its job well, with some cool shots and gadgetry, and a somewhat realistic view of space travel and the future (the shots of them coming out of hypersleep are great). Defintely frightening, decent plot, though the ending leaves you wondering somewhat.
What the heck. I just spent two hours of my life watching this. People do drugs, hang out in unfunny situations, and besides James Franco, none of these guys should even be in films. James Franco was hilarious, and it was good to see Rosie Perez, but my good, terrible.
I love Sandra Bullock, and I'm getting to like Ryan Reynolds - he's like a tolerable, smarter version of Dane Cook. It was great to see Sandra back on screen. She isn't quite believable as the nasty boss - she's too much of a goofy-sweet type - and Reynolds is tough to believe as the doting assistant-slash-writer/editor, with his perfectly toned six-pack and all. But Betty White is good, the parents are a good storyline, and despite being recycled and not too imaginative, it's an OK chick-flick.
I like Chris Evans. That cell phone movie was decent, and he's been underrated in Fantastic Four, somewhat. But is he leading man caliber? Maybe, but not in this ill-conceived hero-action hybrid. There are 6-7 classes of minor superability that all kinds of people have and know about, and they all come withing a few miles of where Evans is hiding in Hong Kong. There is almost no character development, no depth, no explanation as people use their powers. It's the most hollow power-hero movie in some time. Great side characters are left to rot, and the whole movie feels like a bad Heroes episode.
A True-ish story of a German-American pilot, and somehow the role goes to Christian Bale? Why? The capture and torture and all that is very well done, but the story is questionable - the death of Duane, the behavior of the cell mates. It makes for a good movie, but in reading some other sites, it appears to be less than the whole truth. Points off for poor casting (why must all roles go to Christian Bale and Shia LeBouf? Seriously?!) and questionable scenes/accuracy. But the torture and death really hits you hard.
Wow. Not much went wrong here. Excellent plot, very good performances, and the wit and humor - this is like an updated Princess Bride, really. The fantasy takes you in, the characters are likeable, and the sub-plots about the 7 brothers is fantastic. Michelle Pfieffer was great, but wow, Robert DeNiro really took some liberties here. It's laugh-out-loud funny, full of adventure and wonder, and great storytelling all at once. With massive failures like the Golden Compass fiasco, movies like this are far and few between.
A fantastic thrill ride, very well done all around. Major complaints:
A lot of gorey violence...and all-too-thin character development. These guys are buddies...well, no, their crooked cops. And this guy is bad - no, wait, he's good - oh, he's dead. Why? God, I have no idea. Let's shoot someone random! This was like The Shield, only with 1/10th the character development and not anywhere near as believable.
A smart, timely thriller with an atypical view on terrorism and Muslim extremism. I really enjoy movies like these that portray religious extremists from another light, such as some parts of Syriana. It is good for people to see things differently once in a while, instead of just good guy vs. bad guy.
I am not big on comedies - I dno't really see any in the theater. This one would have been worth it, despite Stiller being the lead role; the DVD version is worth watching just for Tom Cruise. He is sooo fucking funny in this movie, it almost redeems him. Almost. Matthew McConaghey has a great role, which may be his best acting ever. And Robert Downey Jr - hats off for taking the plunge. Massive balls to do that, and yet he's making fun of actors the whole time. Fantastic.
It does the Bond thing well - starts off in high-speed, awesome chases, and sort of lets you down from there. Not up to the caliber of Casino Royale or the Brosnan-era Bond flicks, but still a good ride. Bond does not bang the female lead, which is interesting and worth noting.
Never have these two big-name talents been on the same screen, yet yield so little worthwhile content. This isn't vintage Pacino. It isn't Devil's Advocate. Pacino. It's sad, oh-my-god-I-was-in-88 Minutes Pacino. The plot is somewhat conceivable - somewhat - but still ridiculous. Not much worthwhile here - you should just go watch Heat again if you want to see these two work with good material.
Liam Neeson, ah man. Great thriller. You really ride along with this one and love every minute of it. Action, so of course a bit silly in how much he does, and how...but the film takes some great, serious turns that keep you on your toes.
Not much to work with here, just another hostage-taking plot, murdering hostages on a schedule, etc. I waited for DVD for this one - no reason not to. However, Denzel and Travolta do good work here, making the film watchable, and making the most of their roles. The ending becomes particularly silly, will John Turturro flying over with the thumbs up, and the cops racing down the bridge that can never seem to get close enough to matter. That was something out of a Monty Python sketch.
There are some problems with realism, as there always are, such as the sniper team being in place nearly instantaneously, and yet not able to take out any terrorists on the lit train (purposefully). There is also the neatly packed resolution to the passengers being held hostage. Not enough to make it poor, but enough to make it just mediocre.
Terminator Salvation wasn't that bad. I mean, after the negative reviews, I wasn't expecting much. And Christian Bale in the lead role annoyed me to no end. Seriously, casting folks - Bale (british), Worthington (British/Australian), and Yelchin (Russian-American) as the three American heroes? Wow.
But still - in a summer that produced Transformers 2 and GI Joe, Terminator Salvation was at least a stylistic success, and inspired more fear and true emotional identification. It also remained relatively close to canon, and faithful to the originals. It also is a marked improvement on the disaster that was T3.
I wasted $1 at a RedBox to rent this. $200million dollars of special effects, and all you get is crap. Even my girlfriend, during some piss-poor parents-in-danger scene, said "Wow, no one here can act." Between the LeBouef-fest, Megan Fox, bumbling parents and piss-poor John Turturro casting/scripting choices, a script written by morons, robots scripted to by like spongebob, and this entire suck-fest of a mind-numbingly stupid plot, this is probably the worst movie ever made.
So people avoided it, right? No one would have paid $10 to see this shit. Right? We're smarter than that, right? We'd never let 16% of the populace elect a moron, or let a travesty like this become a billion-dollar success, or care more about Britney and Jon + Kate's divorce than our own government, our families, and world culture....right?
I mean, what kind of world would that be?
What the hell did I just watch? Is this a Grosse Point Blank dark comedy with John Cusack as yet another indestrubtible, unbeatable assassin? Or is this some commentary on the war and the military industrial complex, with Haliburton and other companies making all the cash? I've got assassinations, payback, lost family, love story, action, and attempted comedy, all mixed with this US company-controlled war theme...I am confused. And not really entertained.
This was excellent, surprisingly so. I'm a fan of many Pixar flicks - Monsters Inc, Incredibles, and Finding Nemo were all excellent. This one was another, perhaps the best of them all. Cute, sad, good lessons, interesting storyline - even as a guy, you have to love this movie. Hats off.
More silly effects-laden shooting. This one gets points for some amazing effects, and for having Angelina Jolie partially naked. Otherwise, not even as good as Shoot Em'Up, which at least had a sense of humor about how ridiculous it was.
Amazing visual effects, a dark and twisting storyline, and an ensemble cast of smaller stars (and unknowns) - a pretty good mixture. This darker set of heroes is more realistic that then X-Men and Supermen fare, each with their flaws and issues and detachments. Some tremendous character development here, and the ending is satisfying in that they don't veer into the superhero norm. This is a different super-group, and it shows.
Visuals were beautiful, storyline was superb, and I found things packed in nicely - great weaving between the characters, and fitting in backstories and flashbacks to make things whole. You were constantly learning about the past as the plot progressed - it was as good as it could have been on the screen. Oh, and CSI: Miami fans: Rorshach is what pale, red-headed men should aspire to if they want to be scary or intimidating. 'H' wishes he was 1/10th this cool.
Poignant, and of course heartwrenching, Araonofsky does it again. Mickey Rourke was in fantastic shape for this role. It's a low-level, contemporary piece, as opposed to the more action/love epic the Fountain, and the directing is much more everyday. It captures the mood and feeling it sets out to, and brings you with it. Not as compelling as Darren Aronofsky's other works, but still a good movie.
Great to see so many of my old comic book guys on screen. Sabretooth is very well done by Liev Schreiber, better than the monotone behemoth done by Tyler Mane in the original. Additions of deadpool and others like Gambit and the Blob were decently done, and Wolverine's beginnings were well chronicled. But overall, not as great as I had hoped, as Wolverine stays indestructible, untrusting, and generally uninteresting. Bonus points for more screen time for Cyclops - who actually did something in this movie, wow - and Prof. X. .
A fun, relatively light-hearted romp of zombie fighting. Though it gets gruesome, and gets into the 'meat' of zombie infestations, it mainly stays light on its feet, evoking laughs and sometimes full-on hilarity. It hits its target, somewhere between Shaun of the Dead and a Seth Rogen vehicle. The guest appearance is priceless - like a 5-minute intermission that really makes it all work. But you rarely feel like they are really in danger, which is fine.
Bryan Adams (Solo Acoustic) I'm not a huge Bryan Adams fan - he had me with the Robin Hood theme, and Have You Ever Loved A Woman's spanish guitar track. My girlfriend is a larger fan, and had never seen him life - so, she got an early birthday present!
This allowed me to take in Adams' writing, stage presence, vocal and guitar abilities pretty much unfettered. The theatre was full at McGlohan (a nice sight - many of their shows are 1/3rd or so populated), and lots of 80's fans were in attendance. Adams has some decent tunes, but they seem to vary almost exclusively from G to D chord strumming with formulaic bridge, or drawn out ballad that really hits it out of the park. Those little pearls - namely the two above - really offset the more simple tunes he was usually delivering.
At the end, I learned that Adams' strength is about 80% his voice - he was great in concert, and pushing 50 now, it's remarkable. His guitar playing is just okay, and his songwriting is the other 20% - some tunes like Summer of '69 are just so awesome you can't help but enjoy them. Many of the tunes fell flat to me, seeing him strum G to D, or capo the first fret, and THEN strum G to D. But still, this guy has been successful, he branches out (remember that horrible techno early-2000's video? shudder) - he even had a tune he wrote for Ray Charles. I think his co-writers (and bandmates?) should get credit for their assistance, because without the deeper tunes and layered tracks, his act would be more forgettable. As it is, he really is a great songwriter of the 80's.Boys of the Lough - An excellent Christmas treat, these fine Irish/english gentlemen delivered an awesome performance of Irish traditionals, Gaelic tunes, and a whole variety of things in between. Some real beautiful music - I picked up a C and of course got all their signatures. Some real fine musicians.
Days of the New
I saw Days of the New in concert last night. Just 15 feet or so from my main 90's musical influence, Travis Meeks. In 1996/97, when their CD came out and had 3 hits (Touch Peel and Stand; The Downtown; Shelf In the Room), along with other gorgeous pieces incorporating grunge acoustic, raw vocal power, and even time changes...I was floored. Literally floored. That one CD showed more talent than Nirvana, more depth than Pearl Jam. It made me take musicians seriously for perhaps the first time.
Soon after their initial success and touring, some soundtrack work was put out (Godzilla, Half-Baked) which was great stuff as well. But Travis Meeks was the tempermental/druggie type, and soon the band had completely split, with him dismissing the 3 others and reforming a new group. He put out a second CD, with some success, and later a 3rd, which got pretty weird, and was something of a failure.
Since then, Travis disappeared from music, only appearing on A+E's intervention for his methamphetamine habit. Now, supposedly sober, he's back out touring to get money for his independent release, Purple, or 'tree colors'.
To see this guy in person, and have him be a tiny, frail, pale man...seriously, when he came out of the back room with a wifebeater, it looked like he had no muscle at all. He was tiny, so skinny. I was more scared than anything. He jammed out on sitar-sounding gutiar stuff, with his percussionist for a while, bfore (almost reluctantly) going into songs. His voice was weak at first, but came out well after he warmed up. When he screamed, his teeth looked huge, his gums pulled back and distorted. And without a second gutiarist, the solos weren't always working - some missed/muffled notes. The bassplayer was weird - hobbling on one leg, playing barely anything, and hiding behind the amp for some tunes while Travis played solo. Odd.
All in all, a slight disappointment. It was great to see a guy I looked up to so much, who made such great songs (and hopefully will continue to do so). But seeing a guy appear that weak, almost skeletal...it's just sad. Makes me think the music industry is more bad than good...or maybe that some artists just weren't made for the pressure. It just really makes you appreciate the guys that put out good music, and stay normal and strong, like Edwin McCain.
We saw Edwin for the second time - first just with guitar and horn/sax player, but this time with the full band (the drummer was FANTASTIC, wow). He really puts on a show - can't complain. Great covers, great voice, and the guts to go out and play alone with the acoustic now and then. He tells great stories, the band is spot on, he invites the opening act to come up with him (lead guitarist from Freddy Jones Band this time). I really gain new appreciation for Edwin as a true performer, true musician - not some pop tart, not someone relying on good recording - just a tremendously skilled and talented individual taht really loves to write and perform music. A throwback.
My girlfriend likes this band, I don't. to me, every song sounds the same - 3 or 4 piano chords, 4/4 beat, start out in a talking/low voice, escalate to an octave up by the time of the chorus. you can almost interchange their songs, singing the words to 'Over My Head' over the same chords in 'How to Save a Life'. It's all very formulaic, and you don't get much range from song to song. the gutiarist did sing two songs himself though, which was interesting. The singer started (and ended) the night doing this solo singing of Happiness, which sounded atrocious. It burned the ears.
Saw them finally - they opened up for Edwin McCain at the Fillmore. It was great to see all those songs being played - the band really plays well together. Funny thing was, I totally mistook which singer was which - one has a big strong voice, and it ended up being the bald guy. The other guy has more of a weird, higher voice, and he was the lead guitarist in the center. It's definitely....unique...not the best voice, but unique. But the dual lead guitarist on songs like In a Daydream and the Puppet were great to hear. That one CD my sister got me from the 90s defintely was good stuff.
Gaelic Storm - I am not sure this band is Irish (3/5s of the band are not). I think it is a front. They played a fun, lively night at the Neighborhood Theatre, and mentioned their CD getting to the World Music charts. The main singer also did a nice triple impression, including Kenny Chesney that had us laughing. A very good band for a fun night, but not really the Irish/Celtic traditional stuff I was looking for. They drank a LOT on stage - again, a fun night. This band has the interesting credit of being the band to perform in the movie Titanic as the ship was going down.
This band had energy. The singer/pianist hit the stage in a frenzy, showing more stage presence in 10 seconds than the band before's entire set. The songs were just okay, normal today's-pop-radio, powered-up bop stuff. The singer had a high as heck timbre, but hit everything, more or less. The bassist had a horrible haircut and played one of the ugliest basses every - looked like a mix between a Steinberger, those headless ugly 80's failures, and the flying V. He also looked only partially interested...and a Mr Potato Head on his amp, which was slightly more interesting than him. The band overall just seemed okay, but the lead guy's energy was infectious.
John Cowan - Cowan and his band were the first show I saw in Charlotte, at the Neighborhood Theatre in NoDa. This was what helped me make the decision to move - Cowan had an amazingly strong and practiced voice, and even with he and his 4-man band sitting down the whole night, the intensity was there. He played some great covers, and many tunes from his Newgrass days. This got me interested in learning about his career, and his playing with Bela Fleck, and I even got on his mailing list; this is a guy I would love to see again. I am partial to singing bassists, and ones that can do bluegrass well; even with his gospel overtones, I am a big fan.
* On 10/13/2009, I was lucky enough to see John Cowan again, this time with a drummer and a mandolin player instead of banjo. Second row at McGlohan, right in front of him! Wow. Still, amazing voice, even two years later at 56. Not quite as impressive - maybe it was the venue or the sound system, or that they were standing this time - but amazing jams. Later in the evening he came out with The Waybacks to do some Zep covers, and did them well. Then it was My Girl and some others...what a guy. Got to see his bassplaying up close on his busted old Fender Jazz - this guy can play.
Antje Duvekot - she opened up for Glen Phillips at the Evening Muse in Charlotte. Her songs were interesting, but folkish and a little lacking; he voice was good, but she seemed a little nervous still. She talked about Obama and the election, which alienated some down-home southern country folk. I picked up her CD for my sister - and the CD version of her songs were a lot better, with accompanying instruments and more weight behind her.
Paramore - already covered at the John Mayer concert review.
Glen Phillips - I saw him at the Evening Muse in the NoDa district of Charlotte. The former frontman of Toad the Wet Sprocket has a very strong voice, and is a very good songwriter. He played for hours, from funny tunes about childhood dogs and melting away in space, to serious tunes about his family and relationships. He covered several tunes in several styles, and openly talked with the crowd. Overall a good, fun show.
Duncan Sheik - I saw him in November, and got to meet one of my longtime musical influences. His voice was much more effeminate that I would have thought...made me wonder about his orientation a bit, but either way - he was great in concert, playing some old favorites, a few deep tracks I love , like Song For You, and then some newer stuff from Spring Awakening, and his new play/idea about a child seeing ghosts. He closed it off with a rendition of RadioHead's Fake Plastic Trees, one of my favorite covers he does live. Fantastic show - and I got pictures with him, and signatures on 3 of his CDs!
The ShowGoats, a local band in Charlotte - A co-worker of mine is in this band; given the slightly goofy name, I wasn't expecting much when I asked him if I could buy a CD. Lo and behold - wow. The album as a whole isn't mind-blowing, but it is competent and well styled. And the vocals on his tunes were impressive - for a guy who I sit across from in meetings. I was thoroughly impressed. Check out some top songs like Liftoff (which could be a radio hit all by itself), Romeos, and the others; there's some REM influence, but it reminds me of the 90's regular alternative bands - Gin Blossoms, maybe the Refreshments.
Here's something that looked neat. A goofy guy with a decent, practiced voice, and two ugly dudes on bass and drums. To a musician, this could be a complete hit. But it wasn't. The songs were either un-listenable, or so repetitive that it made me want to hurt someone. The bassist was so goofy, it really hurt. The stripped-down drummer - wearing an undershirt and looking like he just got up - held own the beat while Richard and the bassist both bomped on electronic keyboard/synth boxes. The bassist was turned away fom the crowd for several tunes as he bopped on the synth. Very poor music, stage presence, and...well, everything.
The Dan Tyminski Band - I got to see these guys do their last show of 2008, and wow was it something. You can tell when people are good musicians, because they come out wearing bad clothes, aren't all that good looking, and still manage to draw a crowd - because they play good music! Two award winners, and whoever didn't have their own CD had an instructional DVD or two outside. This is some real bluegrass; it actually got a bit too blue-grassy for me. Nickel Creek and Allison Krauss are about my limit; I would see DTB again, but only because the musicians are so fantastic. Congrats on the grammy nomination!
The Waybacks I was hemming and hawing about whether to even stay for this band after John Cowan, but I decided I don't see enough live music and stayed put. I am so happy I did. This guitarist, James Nash, can solo and strum like very few - very gifted. Decent singer/songwriter, great stage presence. The bassist - using a stand-up all night - was definitely worthy; he knew his craft and was fluent. The drummer stood out even more - being older than the rest of the band by 15+ years - and he was spot on, accenting perfectly, and hit some great solos. This band is put together well, definite power trio. The fiddle/mandolin player was soft on the vocals, and just okay on mandolin, but on fiddle - wow. Rather than the normal bluegrass fast playing, he really put elements of classical, definitely Russian into his solos. Their songwriting was part goofy and funny, some good messages, stuff to groove to. Definitely a lot of talent here - see this band!